I cover technology, entrepreneurs, billionaires and VC's for Forbes. When I get the chance I write about lifestyle and booze too. Previously I edited Forbes's front-of-the-book section "Leaderboard," and was a proud member of the Forbes 400 Wealth Team. Before that I worked on Wall Street. Feel free to follow me on Twitter: stevenbertoni and subscribe to me on Facebook.

Comeback Billionaire: How Adelson Dominates Chinese Gambling And U.S. Politics

Sheldon Adelson: No other American has made more money over the last 3 years

Near default three years ago, Sheldon Adelson has made more money than anyone in America since, dominating Chinese gambling—and U.S. politics. A full-access tour of his $25 billion comeback.

The inner sanctum of one of the most influential men on the planet is situated in the bowels of the massive Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, past the replica Renaissance façade and whirling lines of slot machines, through two sets of unmarked doors, a windowless waiting room, rows of cluttered desks and a coughing miniature poodle. The chummy photos on the walls of the bunker itself, which overlooks a private courtyard, represent a who’s who of conservative royalty, including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani and Benjamin Netanyahu.

But when Sheldon Adelson hobbles into the room, past his walker and motorized scooter, his physical frailty, stemming from a nerve condition, belies his muscular perch. No matter: His handshake and voice remain firm, his mind sharp, and the entire country now wants to know what he’s planning. Adelson’s recent campaign-saving donations to Newt Gingrich have made him a figure of political intrigue. “Those people are either jealous or professional critics,” Adelson tells me during his first interview since bankrolling the former speaker’s super PAC, Winning Our Future, to the tune of eight figures.

Since January he’s turned down hundreds of interview requests, and has been dissected on TV and the Internet thousands of times more. But the media frenzy misses the larger story of Sheldon Adelson. Yes, his support for Gingrich, and hinted support for whoever becomes the GOP nominee, has already upturned the U.S. presidential race. But Adelson’s true power emanates from his international business empire, which has quietly exploded over the past three years. With $12 billion plowed into four casino projects in Macao, he’s likely the largest foreign investor in China—ever. With almost 57 million square feet of resort space, Adelson controls real estate akin to 21 Empire State Buildings. He’s helped turn Singapore, he boasts, “from a stodgy, boring conservative town to a town of excitement and culinary arts and museums.” His power stretches from Israel, where he owns an influential right-wing newspaper and directs hundreds of millions of dollars to local charities, to his home base, Las Vegas, where he controls the 4,000-suite Venetian casino.

The market has responded. A week before my visit, Las Vegas Sands reported record quarterly net revenue ($2.54 billion) off the strength of properties in gambling-crazed Macao and ­announced it would pay its first-ever dividend. Its stock has surged, boasting a market cap of around $39 billion— nearly double the values of gambling ­rivals Wynn and MGM, combined.

Most impressively, the money has come staggeringly fast. Just three years ago Adelson’s empire was facing default, and FORBES estimated that his net worth plunged from $28 billion to about $3 billion. Since then he’s made almost all of it back—Sands’ stock is up 3,700%, and Adelson’s net worth has rebounded to $25 billion, again making him one of the ten richest people in America. The 78-year-old who seemed destined to be a case study on the self-inflicted pitfalls of overleveraging just might have pulled off the greatest turnaround in the postmeltdown era, accumulating more wealth since 2009 than any other American—Mark Zuckerberg included. “I’m too old to be a kid,” says Adelson. “So you can call me the comeback adolescent.”

In 2007 Adelson, like too many Americans, was on a spending spree, loading up $10 billion of debt to fund a $1.9 billion expansion in Las Vegas, a seven-casino, $12 billion project in Macao’s Cotai Strip and his $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Investors, frothing at the potential earnings from these massive Asian resorts, valued Sands at an exuberant 60 times Ebidta. “It was like you have the gold mine but hadn’t been able to take the gold out yet,” says Sands President Michael Leven, who was a board member at the time. “But you were priced on the marketplace exactly like you already had the gold.”

In short order Sands ran out of the money needed to finish those mines. Their main revenue source, the Venetian, stalled as Las Vegas hit a soft patch. Construction delays further stretched the balance sheet. Suddenly investors forgot about the company’s growth potential and focused on the massive debt burden. Between October 2007 and January 2008 Sands’ shares plunged 50%.

Analysts and even some of his executives begged Adelson to slow or suspend his construction in order to keep costs down. Adelson kept his foot on the gas. “Some people call me an optimist,” Adelson now says. “The fact is that my appetite for risk was far greater than other people, and my courage in my own conviction was unshakable.” Hubris carried a price: By July 2008 shares were down 80% from the 2007 high.

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You remind me of my mom. While I love her to death, her undying passion for the far left and all things George Soros has forced me to see a fatal flaw in the mentality of Americans today. Many have bought into this utopian ideal which is far from the reality we live in. It’s a good thing to shoot for but we still have to lay down some groundwork. Thus the reason more and more far left (all knowing) professional criticisms are falling on deaf ears.

Reply to Bonnie the Nanny: Do you mischaracterize Adelson? He risked everything time and again. Had he been just greedy as you say, why risk losing it all? He is a personality who loves the action, loves pitting his savvy against any comers. The big money just gives him more ammo to ante up for more action. In the process he produces facilities people value and use. Where’s the harm? Plus, I think you just hate his capitalist politics. Not a peep about greedy leftists such as Soros and Buffett who contribute more than Adelson. Those two are effectively burning the bridges behind them so others cannot follow in their footsteps. Adelson appears to like the competition. I am stunned by his confidence when he was in situations Brer Rabbit couldn’t get out of. Maybe your problem, Bonnie, is that you don’t like men being men.

all verifiable facts , just google everything i stated. jews are our biggest threat to our american christian way of life.there,s a reason they have been expelled from 64 countries in the last 200 years,

The men with the money are going to die rich and their legacy will forever remain that they helped topple America and caused it to come crashing down whilst they sat counting their money and thinking they were so important on this planet. Perhaps in their eyes and all the “yes” men around them but their true deeds are being observed as we speak and it was a shameful life they led while here. Is Sheldon looking to buy the citizen’s votes? If so he will have people like me to go up against. Money cannot buy everything.. Obviously dear Mr money bags has no family members that cannot tolerate most pain meds..Obviously he has not gone to see a doctor while in pain and have them decide not to give you any because they are afraid of the Doctor police… The folks I know have never abused pain meds but they are scrutinized as if they are an addict. The same for me. I know many who could drain the system by getting on disability because when they are unable to get meds they cannot work. Pride stops them from getting on disability. Someone needs to learn their history on Cannabis…Please understand that the vote coming up in Florida is for MEDICAL Marijuana ONLY.. The lobby against it wants you to believe, if passed, it will mean children will have more access to it.. I am here to say they will no more have access to it than they do any other of your meds today. It will have to be prescribed by a doctor. Their lobby is sheer lies and scare tactics. Yes indeed research. Understand that many people who have pain everyday cannot take regular pain meds..and even if they could you have to see a pain control doctor to try everything else first, which means shots that do nothing for most joint conditions. These doctors all know this but now one has to spend even more money seeing a specialist for pain meds that are addicting and can harm you in many other ways. Personally I cannot take them. I Pray the lobby against Medical Marijuana in Florida will be unsuccessful because many health conditions can benefit from it. For those thinking of voting against it I suggest you look up the history of this crop as it was once used for cloth, fuel, and many many other things.It was many times cheaper then the oil fuel we have been made to use. It is non polluting . It was legal until the oil Rockefeller and Rothschild’s came along and got rid of all the other viable fuels out there so they could maintain the monopoly on oil. They maintain that monopoly today and continue to be part of the connection of fighting and killing of those in other countries who possess the oil. We are manipulated with their phoney tales of disasters that eventually gain the backing of citizens to go into other countries and strong arm our way in. It is happening right now. We need to break the hold the elite have on our country and other countries. There have been enough of lies. Make the effort to learn the truth and then vote wisely… Many that are sick need access to a pain killer that will do them only good. Take our country back little by little at the polls.